Before the days of bloggers and influencers, when magazines and newspapers ruled supreme in the media, the schmoozy junket was the way that tourism organisations around the world worked to create a buzz.
Airlines would fly you first class, you'd be put up in 5-star digs and wined and dined at the most exclusive restaurants – all with the idea that you would come home and write glowingly about your experiences.
My first such junket was to Hong Kong in June 1988. I got to stay in the glossy Regent Hotel and ate from jade bowls in restaurants where a single serving of Japanese abalone cost around $3000 — more than the price of a return airfare. I was treated to exotic dishes of duck's tongues, bird's nests, pigeons and abalone, all washed down with China's fiery baijiu alcohol (the equivalent of paint stripper to my tender palate).
One night, at a fancy dinner with local dignitaries and international food writers, I found myself seated next to the general manager of the Hilton hotel chain. "We are opening a new hotel in Shanghai," he said. "I would love to invite you to be our guest for the opening. Fly up there, and you can stay as long as you like. Everything's on us. You just need get yourself there."
Back then, most eating out in Shanghai happened on the street, and it was all about dumplings. Giant bamboo steamers stacked high with mountains of dumplings at every turn. They were all so delicious.
And so began my education in the world of dumplings: jiaozi – made with ground meat or veges encased in a thin flour-based skin; har gow – the Cantonese speciality with a thin, translucent skin made from tapioca and wheat starch filled with garlicky shrimp; fun guo, made with the same tapioca pastry but usually filled with pork, mushroom and chives instead of shrimp; shumai, with an egg-yellow skin and a pork and mushroom filling pinched gently in the middle to leave an open face.
To my mind, the most delicious dumplings are the famous Shanghainese xiao long bao. Made with a wheat flour pastry and shaped into a neat pinched purse, these dumplings enclose a tender gingery pork filling and a gulp of rich hot stock. The trick to making these dumplings is the addition of tiny cubes of jellied stock to the minced meat. When the dumplings are cooked, this jellied stock melts to form the flavoursome broth held inside. It's easy to burn yourself on the scalding liquid inside these dumplings as they come out of the steamer but, if you are patient, the wait is well worth it. Dipped into a bowl of black vinegar, they are nothing short of sensational.
The following recipes are much easier to make at home than the xiao long bao - but no less delicious. They make a fun weekend project the kids can join in with as well. Serve with a pot of jasmine tea and you've got your own little yum char party sorted.
Prawn and coriander pinched purse dumplings
You can add ½ cup cooked chopped spinach into these to extend if desired.
Ready in 45 minutes
Makes 24
400g prawn meat
1 small clove garlic crushed with 1 tsp salt
¼ cup finely chopped coriander leaves
2 Tbsp finely chopped spring onion
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp fine white pepper
24 round dumpling wrappers
24 chives (optional)
Soy vinegar dipping sauce (below) to serve
Place one-third of the prawns in a food processor with all remaining ingredients except wrappers, chives and dipping sauce. Puree to a paste. Finely chop the rest of the prawns and add to the food processor, pulsing just to combine so they retain a chunky texture.
Place 1 Tbsp of filling in the centre of a dumpling wrapper, ensuring at least a 1½cm border of wrapper around the edges. Wet your finger with water and run it around the border, then bring up the edges and twist closed into a purse shape to enclose the filling and seal.
Tie a chive around the join, if desired. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Steam until cooked through and springy to the touch (about 8 minutes). Serve hot with dipping sauce.
Soy vinegar dipping sauce
This is my go-to dipping sauce for all kinds of dumplings.
¼ cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
Chopped spring onion or coriander leaves
Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Sauce will keep for several weeks in the fridge in a covered jar.
Potsticker dumplings with pork and prawn
I like the combination of pork and prawn in these gyoza-style dumplings but you can use all pork if you prefer.
Ready in 45 minutes
Makes 40
3 tightly packed cups very finely shredded cabbage, Chinese cabbage or bok choy leaves (not stems)
2 tsp salt
200g pork mince
150g minced prawn meat (or use all pork)
1 fat clove garlic crushed to a paste with ½ tsp salt
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
2 Tbsp finely chopped chives or spring onions
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp mirin or sake
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
40 round dumpling wrappers
2 Tbsp neutral or sesame oil, to cook
Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)
Microgreens, to garnish (optional)
Soy vinegar dipping sauce (to serve)
Place cabbage or bok choy leaves in a bowl with salt and work between your fingertips to soften. Set aside for 10 minutes then rinse and squeeze very dry.
While the greens are salting, place pork, prawn meat, garlic, coriander, chives or spring onions, soy sauce, mirin or sake, ginger and sesame oil in a bowl. Add the greens and mix to combine.
Place a heaped teaspoon of mixture in the centre of a dumpling wrapper, ensuring at least a 1½cm border around the edges. Wet your finger with water and run it around the edges. Pull up sides and press firmly to seal. Gently push the dumpling down on the bench to flatten the base. Use the tips of your fingers to fold the sealed edge in little pleats from one end to the other. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Dumplings can be prepared ahead, covered and chilled for 24 hours or frozen.
To cook dumplings, heat neutral or sesame oil in a large frying pan. Add dumplings, standing them up so the joined edge faces upwards and fit them in snugly (it's okay if they touch). Cook over a medium heat for about 2 minutes.
Add water to a depth of 1½cm, cover and cook until water has all but evaporated (about 8 minutes). Remove lid and continue to cook until bases are brown and crisp (about 2 minutes). To cook from frozen, increase the water depth and cook for 12 minutes.
Place dumplings on a platter, on their sides so the bases stay crisp. Scatter with microgreens and sesame seeds, if desired. Serve with soy vinegar dipping sauce.
Laksa salmon envelope dumplings
Here's a cross-cultural twist that brings the Malaysian flavours of laksa into a juicy salmon dumpling. If you don't have any laksa paste, you can use red curry paste.
Ready in 45 mins
Makes 20
400g boneless, skinless salmon, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped water chestnuts
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
4 tsp laksa paste
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cornflour
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
A pinch of fine white pepper
20 square dumpling wrappers
TO SERVE (optional)
Japanese mayonnaise
Coriander leaves, chopped
Black and white sesame seeds
Microgreens
Pickled ginger
Soy vinegar dipping sauce
Stir together all ingredients except wrappers and serving ingredients.
Place 1 Tbsp of filling (about 20g) in the centre of a dumpling wrapper, ensuring at least a 1½cm border of wrapper around the edges. Wet your finger with water and run it around the border, then bring up the corners, join at the top and pinch the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Steam until cooked through and springy to the touch (about 8 minutes). Squiggle with mayonnaise and scatter with coriander, sesame seeds and microgreens, if desired.
Serve hot with pickled ginger and dipping sauce.
Match these with ...
by Yvonne Lorkin
(Laksa salmon envelope dumplings)
Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Sauvignon Blanc 2021 ($23)
So pale, it's like having glossy white gold in your glass and it erupts with lemongrass, bruised basil, peach and punchy, crunchy green apple and lime layers with each sip. Its bracing freshness washes across the creamy laksa flavours and the fatty richness of the salmon superbly well. Martinborough sauvignon blanc has its own style, being more floral and citrus-forward than some of the more commercial, squinty, southern examples.
martinboroughwinemerchants.co.nz
(You could get it cheaper per bottle at foleywineclub.co.nz, however, they require you to buy a minimum of 6 at a time)
(Pork and prawn potsticker dumplings)
Smith & Sheth Cru Heretaunga Hawke's Bay Albarino 2021 ($40)
Albarino is Spain's signature white grape. However, it's also found a very happy home under the Hawke's Bay sun. Sourced from the iron-rich, red gravels of the Bridge Pa sub-region, it's scented with soft citrus and apricot aromatics, hints of sea breeze and white pepper. On the palate, this vintage is incredibly rich, ripe and roars with spiced peach, preserved lemon and pineapple. The acidity is prickly in all the right places. It's a stunning, lengthy, textural wine that's powerfully tasty with these potstickers. Buy some or forever kick yourself.
smithandsheth.com
(Prawn and coriander pinched purse dumplings)
Seresin Estate Marlborough Chardonnay 2021 ($26)
This organically grown chardonnay sings with spicy, caramelised oak and ripe roast nectarine notes on the nose and palate. It's got the structure of a skyscraper, built around a core of solid citrus and plush acidity. Carefully handpicked and whole bunch pressed, the juice is then fermented "wild", with the natural yeasts present in the winery atmosphere. It's then gently slipped into French oak barrels for a calm, quiet seven months to settle into itself and develop the rich, toasty, jubilantly juicy style that takes it beyond delicious with these tender dumplings. I love it!
thegoodwine.co.nz